Places Where You Can Learn World's Top 5 Most Used Languages

Learning a new language can be a great asset not only for your travels and your career, but also for your mental health. Studies featured on the Telegraph notes that being multilingual makes you smarter, helps you multi-task better, and even ups your chances of fighting off Alzheimer’s disease and dementia when you grow older.

The Ethnologue, which is one of the premiere sources on data regarding languages, has recently released a list of 23 of the most spoken tongues in the world, which was recently shared by Global Polyglots. So if you're looking to pick up a new skill or aiming to work abroad someday, you can start with the top five, namely are Chinese, Spanish, English, Arabic, and Hindi.

Here are local places where you can learn them:

1. Chinese

Chinese is spoken in 37 countries by 1.284 billion first-language speakers. It’s considered a very intricate language, with two big branches being Mandarin and Cantonese. Mandarin is considered to be the national language of China and Taiwan, but Cantonese is also widely used in the province of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau.

2. Spanish

Spanish is spoken in 31 countries and by 437 million first-language speakers, and is probably one that Filipinas can easily learn due to its very strong influence on our own native language. Spanish is prevalent in (of course) Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Panama, Peru, Venezuela, the United States, and many more, so if you’re planning to go on a tour of the West, you may want to learn a few useful sentences.

3. English

English is spoken in 106 countries by 372 million first-language speakers, and yes, if you’re reading this, then you can definitely speak in English. Still, there will always be room for improvement, so if you’re thinking of sharpening your speaking and writing skills, feel free to enroll in a proficiency class or two!

4. Arabic

Arabic is spoken in 57 countries by 295 million first-language speakers. Those planning to work in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Quatar, and the like will benefit much from learning to speak at least the basics of this language.

5. Hindi

Hindi is the national language of India and is mainly spoken in only 5 countries, but has 260 million first-language speakers. While there are only a few Hindi classes in the country (mostly are by private tutors), there are many international institutions that offer online classes that can suit your needs.